


Crushed Petals

by Winter_Moonlight



Series: Izumi/Leo Week [1]
Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24310912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Moonlight/pseuds/Winter_Moonlight
Summary: IzuLeo Week 2020 - Day One | FlowersFalling to his knees, he clutches his throat as the burning pain rises higher. His throat is getting blocked, he can’t breathe a single breath of life saving oxygen. His heart pounds in his ears, louder than any Live he has ever participated in. Louder than all of the sneers and snide remarks whispering in his ears long after they occur.It feels like it has been so long since the beginning of the end, now.“I’m going to help you.”“Don’t need it.”
Relationships: Sena Izumi/Tsukinaga Leo
Series: Izumi/Leo Week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768717
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	Crushed Petals

Their petals came from him.

The red rose petals that danced across their one and only Checkmate stage – where the survival of the fittest stood with their swords stained crimson – were a product of himself. His love skittered across the stage and floated high in the air. It laid bare, right before everyone’s eyes to see; yet still went unnoticed. The light floral scent tickled their noses, however, no one remarked on their sudden appearance. Scarlet tears scattered across the ground, crushed underfoot as everyone swayed to their battle dance and laid to rest the last vestiges of Chess.

The stage seemed perfect, an unconscious beauty lying underneath the deep crimson. Still, it was not nearly as perfect as his partner in crime. Whether it be a wrongdoing or a form of justice, he would have done whatever it took to see his partner smile. Even this massacre that had left his heart bleeding and his insides spewing out of his mouth. He would do it all again. Even if his partner, too, seemed to be on the verge of gorgeous tears – eyes glittering against the stage lights too brightly to be a natural luminance. Even if it hurt now, he knew, in the end, this would lead to their happiness. Even if he died now, Izumi would go on and be able to hold his dreams in the palm of his hands.

What did it matter what happened to him?

He was always, unconsciously, drawn towards Izumi; since the moment he laid eyes on him. The ex-model a bizarre little light in his already bright world filled to the brim with color and music. Izumi was someone he wanted to take his time with and unravel slowly; savor each and every intimate touch after the long process of digging his claws deep into Izumi’s skin. The more he unwrapped, the more he found himself enchanted. The complexity in a single person caught him by the throat and didn’t let go. It wasn’t as though he struggled to get free, either, however.

He had always been the ruler of his own world, but it was time to finally admit defeat. Staying in a world reigned under Izumi’s thumb didn’t seem so bad; rather, he would prefer it. Yet… Somehow, he was made to rule over Izumi when the ex-model was so much better suited for such a job. Izumi didn’t argue against the decision either, he was too kind, after all. From that point, he fated himself to doing everything in his power to make Izumi’s dreams come true – Izumi had looked after him all of this time, it was only right.

But he was greedy. He wanted more and more and more. All of Izumi’s attention and care, he wanted it entirely. The flutters within his chest grew itchier day by day. His selfish desires built up within the pit of his stomach until it felt like lead weighing him down. The more time he spent with Izumi, the more relieved he felt. However, at the same time, the more he stayed by Izumi’s side, the more he realized Izumi wasn’t listening to his words and brushing them aside as just things he did naturally.

The itch amplified every second that passed. His throat started to prickle and his stomach churned uneasily.

Until this day, this Live – their last Live – loomed upon them, he didn’t understand what it all meant. He wasn’t sure if was he on the brink of death or if it was just a passing anomaly his human body could survive through. Post confronting the remaining unit created from the scattered Chess members, he slunk off to a dark corner outside, clutching his chest as he felt needles pierce through his soft insides and slice upwards like a sword cleaving through his body.

Falling to his knees, he clutched his throat as the burning pain rose higher. His throat was getting blocked, he couldn’t breathe a single breath of life saving oxygen. His heart pounded in his ears, louder than any Live he had ever participated in. Louder than all of the sneers and snide remarks whispering in his ears long after they occurred.

When the first bud crawled out of his body and fell to the floor with a moist thud, his world came to a stop. His time was forced into motion once more only when the next rose was pushed up his esophagus. Absently, he wondered if he would lose the ability to sing. But even if his voice became useless, there were still other ways to aid Izumi…

…Right? He was still a genius, wasn’t he?

When the final red rose tumbled to the ground, his breathing was heavy. It felt like an eternity before he could settle down. He spat the residual saliva gathered on his tongue to the dirt, carefully checking if he could spot any blood in it. The liquid seeped slowly into the dry ground, dark brown dispersing until it reached its limits, spreading thin.

His chest lurched once more, a shocked kind of laughter bubbling out of his abused vocal cords. His fingers dug into the front of his black and blue costume; heart, once again, beating rapidly against his ribcage. The scarlet buds stared back at him mockingly in his monochrome world.

Slowly, but ever so surely, reality set back in. The drawls of the audience drifted with the wind. He had someone depending on him, someone important to him. No matter what happened to him, he had to go to Izumi’s side. After wiping his lips with his sleeve, he gathered the flowers in his cape, plucking the petals free from their receptacle and drying them. Pain is a part of the wonderous world of endless inspiration, as well. Just as joy cannot be abandoned, neither can agony. Besides, the flowers were still a part of him that was in love with Izumi.

He would not throw them away for the world – even as they are crushed beneath Izumi’s very feet, going unseen.

Their petals came from him.

And for many more Lives, he showered Izumi’s beloved Knights with his love. If Izumi loves them, then he loves them, too. Since his return to Yumenosaki, the aching cycle of his innards imploding with flowers and his body rudely expelling them has become routine. Some days, his singing abilities become too weak to frolic around with the others, so he runs – much to his heart’s discontent. Other days, the disease hurts too terribly to even move, body gearing up for the next round of unsung messages.

One day, surely, his ability to sing will diminish completely. Until then, he only hopes to be useful to Izumi and his Knights. He wants to protect the Knights Izumi worked so hard to protect. The Knights that Izumi loves so much more than Izumi has ever loved him. He has to do this while he can, because one day, surely…

It feels like it has been so long since the beginning of the end, now.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he exhales slowly. Knights don’t have anything scheduled for today; he is free to leave school whenever he pleases. As the last class comes to an end, he makes his way to Knights’ studio, hands shoved inside his school blazer pockets. The smooth edge of a pen sends a cool sensation rippling across his skin. If anywhere near, Knights’ studio has always provided him with insurmountable amounts of inspiration. He has come to love them, too, after all. Their precious little family of five. Tsukasa has been especially fun to mess with and teach; the kid much too serious some of the times.

If never by Izumi’s side alone, then he wants to spend the remainder of his life by all of theirs.

His hand pauses on the door leading into the studio, shuffling from within reaching his ears. The unpleasant sounds of being short of breath and choking on the very life-sustaining air needed for survival vibrate through the wooden barrier. Ice spreads through his veins, his hand suddenly as cool as the pen pressed up against his skin. He pushes the door open with haste, eyes scanning the interior frantically.

The studio is as tidy as ever, floors shining after being cleaned impeccably with solution and mirrors showcasing every detail and color with vibrancy. Both surfaces reflect back the man in the corner, on his knees and clutching his throat with eyes squeezed shut. His hair, usually so healthy and hydrated, looks dull and lifeless as it bounces with every shudder of his body.

He races to his side, kneeling close to the man who has always swam around in his thoughts. To the man who he has tried to fill his broken heart with, only for the memories and feelings to slip through the cracks and disappear – leaving him unfulfilled and empty.

“Le-”

His name is only partially croaked out before getting halted to a stop by a cough so harsh that even he feels his own throat tearing open. He softly rubs a hand up and down his friend’s back as he scans the damage done to their home. Shifting his weight to better steady himself, the scattered yellow petals squish beneath his shoes in a soft, yet moist, crunch.

He remembers… he, too, once sent these same yellow flowers spewing across his bedroom floor. Looking at himself in the mirror, back then, made him feel pure disgust; enough to want to shatter the glass before him so as to never see that look on his face again. His eyes shined too brightly and too _green_ as he recalled the days when Izumi showered his love towards others and turned his back on him.

“Easy. The more you panic, the harder it will be to breathe. It’ll be over soon, Sena. The first time is always the worse.”

“W-What-?”

Speckles of saliva coat the edges of Izumi’s mouth as more broken flowers smeared in crimson expel from between his lips. He breathes harshly, gulping down air like this will be his last time tasting such an exquisite substance. Izumi’s chest rises and falls more rapidly than he has ever seen it, even on days where they run through choreography after choreography.

“Shh. Listen to my voice.” He whispers, leaning in closer. “One… Two… Three…”

It feels like an eternity before Izumi relaxes, leaning back and allowing his weight to rest towards his heels tiredly. He finally feels his own heart ease from the anxious grip that clutched it painfully. He retreats his hand, tilting his head to study Izumi’s face more carefully. Sweat dots his forehead and red dapples his lips.

“Leo-kun.”

“Sena.” Leo replies just as wistfully.

Izumi slides his eyes away, opting to stare at the wall. “…What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn’t that be my line?” Leo asks. A familiar, ugly feeling begins to simmer within his chest as his worry subsides further. “And all by yourself? You could’ve come to me, to any one of us. How long-”

“Now that’s _my_ line!” Izumi interrupts, eyes suddenly piercing into Leo’s own with a blaze burning brightly within them. “Did you think I didn’t catch that just now? What do you even know, Ou-sama?”

“I-” He cuts himself off. No one knows of his condition. Not Izumi, nor Knights; not even his family.

Izumi scoffs, turning away again. “You’re always like this. Keeping important things to yourself.”

“Why are you suddenly mad at me?” Leo narrows his eyes. His hands fist tightly at his side, nails digging into the skin of his palms. “I try and try, again and again, to stay on your good side but you only ever find fault with me! Wasn’t it you who just threw up hyacinths? You have a more serious problem than dealing with me! Your pretty voice is going to get damaged… It’s going to kill you, you know?!”

“You’re so annoying!” Izumi yells in return. He turns his body fully, facing Leo directly. “Why, Ou-sama? Tell me why you know exactly how to handle this stupid disease. Do you love someone?”

“I love everyone.”

“You are so…!”

“Annoying.” Leo finishes. “I know.”

The muscles in Izumi’s jaw clench, further emphasizing his sharp jawline. Teeth dig into his bottom lip, turning the pink skin white. “I’d rather it kills me, then.”

Leo’s heart freezes, his world coming to a stop just like the first time the disease appeared onto his stage. His eyes widen, the sunlight shining into the room suddenly too bright. “Sena…”

“Don’t tell anyone.” Izumi pivots on his heels, gathering up the broken flowers and ripped petals.

“Wait,” He reaches out, putting a hand on Izumi’s wrist. “I’ll help you. Who is it?”

Izumi shakes off the hand. “I don’t want your help.”

Leo bites his instinctive retort back, swallowing it down like needles. “I’m going to help you.”

“Don’t need it.” Izumi drawls out huffily.

“I don’t care.” Leo replies in a firm tone, making the model turn his eyes back to him. “I’m not letting it take you from m- us.”

“Can’t do anything if they don’t like me, stupid.”

“Anyone would be lucky to be loved by Sena.”

“And what about you, Leo-kun?!” Fire fills Izumi’s gaze again – even more so. The petals, carefully gathered into a pile, are scattered once more. His thin fingers grip at Leo’s shoulders harshly, the slim bones within them nearly creaking with the pressure. “Do you love someone that doesn’t love you back? Answer.”

Leo blinks once, and then twice slowly.

Izumi clicks his tongue, pushing him away with his hands. Leo falls to his bottom, the heel of his hand smacking against the floor as he catches himself. The two of them stare at each other unrelentingly. He can see the emerald of his eyes reflect back at him through Izumi’s glossy orbs shining azure blue.

Ultimately, Izumi is the one who loses their silent duel.

The model gathers the flowers quickly, shoving them haphazardly into his bag and standing. His footsteps are heavy with anger as he makes his way to the door. As he passes by, whispered words swim into Leo’s ears like a calm spring breeze – and just as fleetingly so. “…Why are you so stubborn?”

Once the door clicks into place, he lets out an unsettled chuckle, lips stretching into a smile but voice quivering on his tongue. “Isn’t it because I love you?”

The days pass by, unlike normal. He hasn’t seen Izumi since then; has been avoiding Knights meeting and practices. He even skipped out on one of their Lives. His throat too raw for any singing and his body too weak for Knights’ normally energetic choreography. The disease has picked up frequency, as of late. Starting with words such as ‘I love you’ and moving onto the purple hyacinth, begging for forgiveness; messages he only hopes Izumi hears one day, even after it takes him away from the Earth and his spirit is set free.

Resignation has taken over his thoughts and puts him to rest. The number of sweet peas and cyclamen proclaiming his goodbyes fill his bedroom to the brim. Goodbye to the world that has given him so many experiences to take with him on his journey to the other side. Goodbye to his friends and family. Goodbye to his one and only love.

His head swims dizzily, the colors before his eyes blurring together like scenery rushing by inside of a racecar. His right foot hurries and steps to his left side, trying to find a balance only for the foot to catch against the ground and make him fall despite the efforts. The earth rushes up to meet his hands, the grit beneath them digging into his soft skin. A high-pitched tone rings in his ears, erasing the real world from his thoughts.

A harsh tickle at the back of his throat makes him cough; something dry and crinkly passing between his teeth and plopping onto the ground before him. Though the dirt beneath his cheek is cold, his body burns like hellfire. He isn’t sure when he closed his eyes, but opening them again gives him no further light. The edges of his vision are wholly closing in with an obsidian darkness.

His body jerks with more coughs, legs folding inwards to curl himself into a ball. His stomach squeezes tightly, the lurching motions like sharp, repetitive stabs with a dagger. The disease progresses quicker the weaker his mind becomes. The disease of unrequited love; of unsung voices in the physical form of floral poems. He can’t do anything but smile to himself, lips wet with scarlet blood from his torn lungs and throat, and wish for Izumi’s happiness.

He can’t make it happen himself, any longer.

The world he stays suspended in is dark, like the nights where the moon is hidden away by the inky shadows and dubbed as ‘new.’ Like the nights where the stars are drowned out by the city lights and the moonlight cannot be found. It’s as chilly as the midnight air, as well. Bare arms prickle with the cool atmosphere surrounding it. Beneath his fingers is a soft material, as soft as the moonshine when it reappears and is bathing the earth in its glow. When that, oh so special, shade of grey graces his presence…

Where is he, again?

Wasn’t he in the park, under the blazing heat of the sun?

He turns his head, cheek meeting a plush surface instead of sharp pebbles. With a painful grumble – throat protesting at the use of injured muscles – he squints his eyes open. Bright light assaults his pupils, making him tightly close his eyelids once more. He nuzzles into the surface below him, refusing to wake up to an unknown world. Whether he passed to Heaven or Hell, or caught somewhere in Purgatory, he doesn’t want to wake to a world where the person who is like the moonlight is no longer there.

“Ou-sama…? Are you awake?”

He snaps his eyes open at the whispered voice; the very voice he has been dreaming about. His eyes meet the gaze of his long-time friend’s. Of Izumi’s. Of his first and last love’s. His own voice comes out as nothing more than air as he tries to speak, “What… are you doing… here?”

Izumi couldn’t have…?

“Leo-kun…” The model lowers his head, bangs and shadows covering his eyes from view. His fists clench on his lap, bunching up the fabric of his pants within the grip.

The name slips through his eardrums, an unnatural timbre putting his mind on alert. Though body sluggish in ways he has never felt before, Leo raises his arm, hand reaching out to Izumi’s somber form. His fingertips just barely brush against the supple skin of Izumi’s cheek, but the warmth radiating from Izumi’s skin sinks deep into his body like a warm drink on a cold winter’s day. Like sitting in front of a fireplace with precious people filling the room and feeling like he is finally home.

“Your voice… is hoarse.” Leo croaks out slowly. “Has it… been bad?”

It’s hard to breathe. It feels like he ran ten miles at full speed and still has yet to catch his breath. His heart pounds uneasily in his chest, struggling to fully fill his veins with life-sustaining crimson liquid but only able to produce a trickle. Everything within him feels tightly coiled, waiting anxiously for that single pressure to snap it completely.

But his worry over Izumi takes precedence over all of it. “Haven’t you… spoken with the one you love?”

Leo’s eyes are drawn away from the smooth skin of Izumi’s face to his hands as the knuckles turn as white as sheet music.

“You’re one to talk!” Izumi’s scratchy voice jumps in volume as suddenly as the model stands from his seat. The chair screeches against the floor when it is shoved backwards.

Leo’s hand falls back to the bed. “I-”

“What the hell is this?!” Izumi yells, gesturing to the bedside table. “Why haven’t you said anything, all of this time?!”

With a great deal of effort, Leo pushes his upper body up, balancing on his elbows – the most he can accomplish in his current state. The bedside table is occupied with a clear plastic bag labelled ‘biohazard’ and filled to the brim with flowers and leaves so dry and beyond life that they could no longer be identified. The sight of such a pile of flora draws nothing but sorrow from deep within his body – as did the language in which they speak.

“Sena…” Leo airily exhales. “It’s okay.”

“What about this is okay?” Izumi shakes his head.

He turns his attention back to the model, tilting his head as something else catches his eyes. He reaches his hand out again, yet Izumi stands too tall for him to reach from his laying position on the bed. “Come here… Did you get hurt?”

Izumi’s voice quivers, “Is that… even important?”

Despite the words, the model lowers himself, palms resting on the bed to carry his weight. Leo brushes his thumb across a cut at the corner of Izumi’s lip. “It’s important to me…”

Izumi takes care of himself. There is no way this laceration appeared because of severe dryness. A thorn, perhaps…?

“How long?”

“Hm?”

“How long?!” The model repeats furiously, grabbing Leo’s hand in a harsh grip and pulling it away from his face. “How long have you had it?”

The air condition buzzes through the room, ruffling Leo’s bangs and skittering them across his forehead gently. He remembers the time, so long ago now, when he first met the man in front of him. The memories they created together float through the forefront of his mind like a never-ending paradise. The happiness and the sorrows, the yelling and the laughter; everything is preciously held within his broken heart – clinging on desperately. “Probably… over a year now.”

A dry laugh leaves Izumi’s raw throat, the sound anything but amused. “A whole year… huh?” The chuckle gets stronger, but, nevertheless, the echoes of Izumi’s shattering heart is much louder in Leo’s ears. “I didn’t know…! For a whole year.”

“Sena?”

“I can’t even…” Izumi raises his free hand to cover his eyes. “Is it my fault again, Leo-kun? If I was better, then-”

“Sena.” Leo forces his voice to come out strongly, despite the sharp spike that stabs at his vocal cords. “I ran away, every time. Because I didn’t… Well, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re my perfect Sena. Since the beginning. Sena who is kind. Sena who doesn’t tell me how to make him smile. Sena who is loved more than he believes. You’re perfect.”

“Your…” A shuddered breath leaves his lips. “I…”

“Anyways,” Leo cuts into the silence left by Izumi’s uncertainty. “How did I get here? Mm… Hospital?”

That raw, miserable, shaky laughter bubbles up to fill the space between them once more from the model. “How… Because I went looking for you and found you half dead… I…”

“Oh? You didn’t have-”

“I hate you, Leo-kun.”

His already injured voice gets caught in his throat like a sudden collision with a road block. His mouth becomes dry and his heart threatens to freeze midbeat.

“You’re so annoying.” Izumi chokes out, shoulders shaking and the hand he grips Leo’s with tightening its pressure. “You’re _so_ annoying!”

Though his mind has already halted all function, Leo’s inner thoughts further turn to nothing but white fog as Izumi pushes forward and presses their lips together. It’s not graceful, their teeth click together in angered bites and their hot breaths paint their skin too feverishly against the chill of the cold room.

Izumi pulls away a minuscule distance and undertones, “I hate you, so much.”

“…I don’t really get it, then?”

“I hate you.” Izumi repeats. “I hate that you don’t even care how bad this got.”

“You were the one who said you’d rather let it kill you.”

“And you were the one who almost let it.” Izumi huffs as he curls his hands around Leo’s shoulders and pushes him onto his back. Their eyes lock once more, blue swims in green and green swims in blue, intermingling like watercolors on a wet canvas. “Leo-kun… Why…?”

“Why, what, Sena?”

“Why can’t you just tell me plainly that it hurts? Why can’t you trust me?” Izumi rasps out. “Why can’t you see me?”

Leo blinks sluggishly, staring up at the trembling man above him. “I see that you’re the one in pain, Sena.”

“Then tell me. Tell me who you are so in love with so they can… fall in love with you and end this.”

“I’m… not really sure… what’s he thinking, nowadays.” He admits in a murmur. “But it’s too late for me… So why not focus on yourself? I’ll compose you something to give to them.”

“I don’t want it. I hate you.” Izumi lowers his head, their faces too close for Leo to see clearly, but even so, he feels the drop of warm liquid that lands on his cheek like hot coal.

“Are you…? Sena? It’s okay… You’re not alone.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“I know.” Leo replies. “Soon, it will be goodbye for me. I don’t think my body can take much more.”

“…Annoying.”

“Look, my voice even sounds awful already. I’m no use to you anymore.”

Izumi remains silent, so Leo goes on, “Sena, please. Go and be happy. That’s my last wish.”

“Why…?”

“Because I love you.”

Izumi flinches. “You love everyone.”

“Yeah.” Leo smiles gently. “But I love you.”

“Then why…”

“Why?”

“Why!” Izumi shouts, the vibrations rocking between them harshly in the close proximity. “Why can’t you see me?!”

“I am seeing you.” Leo argues back, a pout forming on his lips. “My eyes are always on you.”

“I hate you.” Izumi tilts his head and presses their lips together again, more desperately, this time.

Oh.

As Izumi’s tongue swipes across his bottom lip, Leo finally believes he understands. He should have the first time, but the word ‘hate’ drawled his mind into a sloth’s pace. Izumi wouldn’t kiss just anyone, after all, right? Izumi never ever allows the word ‘hate’ to leave his lips for anyone; even if he truly dislikes a person – which is a rarity, in any case.

They break apart with heavy exhales, oxygen lacking in their lungs.

“Say it, then, Sena…” Leo encourages in a coarse whisper, throat still straining against the floral abuse. “Say it and it will all be over.”

He scuttles his fingers up to Izumi’s shoulders, lightly scratching the body beneath his fingertips and catching on the fabric of Izumi’s shirt.

The model’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows thickly. “Really? You’re not lying to me?”

“When have I… ever lied to you?” Leo flicks his eyes back and forth between Izumi’s. “I love you.”

“…I love you too, Leo-kun.”

Tingles race across just beneath the surface of Leo’s skin, starting from the ends of his limbs and crawling towards his heart swiftly. A stiffness that has gone unnoticed until now burns to ash and flies away with the breeze. Veins and arteries that have been transformed into roots absorbing his life source break free from their curse, opening up the way for his crimson blood to flow freely rather than be lapped up as nourishment. The base tree within his body topples over, leaves scattering all around and collecting up its remaining comrades before floating up to Heaven as one and disappearing into diamond dust; no longer willing to be crushed beneath their feet like undesirable sentiments.

The pressure within his chest eases, at last – the flora losing their meaning and being sung audibly as morning birds greeting the awakening world do.

“I love you, Sena. More than anyone else.”

“Mm…” Izumi leans his forehead against Leo’s softly, closing his eyes tiredly. Regardless of the fatigue, Izumi’s body is more relaxed than Leo has seen it for what seems like weeks.

“Is it over for you, too?”

“Mm.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Knight’s oath. So, stay with us, Leo-kun. With me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Starting off the week with this disaster lol It's my first time writing this AU, I hope it turned out alright and you enjoyed it~  
> Thank you for reading! Any comments and kudos are very much appreciated!!


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